This year news spread that Brooklyn indie-dance outfit The Rapture quietly split up without anyone noticing for a while. The news was met with disappointment by fans worldwide but according to frontman Luke Jenner it’s not exactly true and the world shouldn’t act too soon on calling an end to The Rapture.
“That’s a weird story. So basically, Jonathan Galkin from DFA [Records] basically just told some music journalist that we had split up and we never as a band made any official statement,” Jenner tells Music Feeds.
“We’re not doing anything at the moment and I’ve been working on some other stuff but there was never… It was just something that Jonathan Galkin told a journalist and that Pitchfork picked it up and then that was that.”
Earlier this year a Red Bull Music Academy press release billed Jenner as “formerly of The Rapture”. Galkin, co-founder of the group’s on-and-off label DFA Records, told self-titled that he kept thinking that the split “might blow over” but said the publication should “feel free to go to press with this headline: ‘Did the Rapture Break Up and Not Tell Anyone?’” Apart from the the question mark, that’s pretty much what they did. Then the news spread, without actual confirmation from the band.
Jenner has actually left The Rapture previously, while they were halfway through recording their latest album 2011’s In The Grace of Your Love. He returned after a few months to complete the record with bandmates Vito Roccoforte and Gabriel Andruzzi, but said after a world tour they all needed time away.
“I just went through some personal stuff and then at the end of the last tour I started dealing with a lot of childhood trauma stuff like sexual abuse and just different things and it didn’t go down that well,” Jenner said.
“And then I wanted to start talking about some of the problems in the band and no-one was really ready to start having those conversations so I just sort of said ‘okay well, I’m going to go do some stuff on my own and we’ll talk later’.”
For now, Jenner says that he is taking time to work on some solo material away from the band and while “there’s not any intention to make a Rapture record at the moment”, he doesn’t know what is in store for the band’s future. It all hinges on his relationship with his bandmates.
“A band is a relationship; it’s a marriage or a close relationship. For me, my relationships with the band is more important than the band. If my relationship with Vito isn’t straight then there’s no point in trying to write and make music together.”
Jenner will play Sydney Festival next year as part of the Atomic Bomb! show, a tribute to Nigerian synth pioneer William Onyeabor which also features Gotye, Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip), Pat Mahoney (LCD Soundsystem), Sinkane and others. Details here.
Stay tuned for the full Music Feeds interview with Luke Jenner, up soon.
